Divorce Coaches Academy

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Make-believe or pretend play is an almost universal part of every kid's childhood. Most children love pretending to be everything from superheroes to astronauts, doctors, dancers, firefighters, and moms and dads. Today, we're getting into some tools you can use when you find yourself working with clients whose expectations and bel...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) We’ve all experienced it. Clients who can’t stop talking about their pain, are fixated on wanting to re-litigate past hurts, and who blame their partner for everything that isn’t going smoothly in their divorce process or co-parenting relationship. These clients are stuck in the problem cycle. And when they’re in the problem cycle...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) This week we’re going to take a classic children’s story and use it as a model for approaching proposal development with your clients. Goldilocks and the Three Bears is such a legendary fairy tale. You could ask just about anyone and you'd get the same general story. The three bears leave their home to go out for a walk. Goldilock...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) One of the most common complaints we hear from divorce coaches is that they aren’t getting as many clients as they had hoped and that means they aren’t hitting their revenue goals. If that’s a struggle you’re facing, then this episode is for you. We’re giving you the 411 on crafting your elevator pitch so you can be prepared to ta...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Do you want to make more money in your coaching business? Would you like a steadier, more reliable inflow of new clients? What if we told you that spending time and money on marketing is not the most effective way to make either of those happen? This week we want to dive into the importance of session focus and how it’s the critic...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Our clients show up with a multitude of problems, questions, and difficult dilemmas. And the truth is, we’re tempted to offer a solution or an answer because it’s faster, easier, and eliminates our client’s distress. Today we want to talk about that urge to tell clients what to do - or what we call superhero syndrome. One of the m...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Divorce coaching is a relatively new profession, so most coaches offer a short, initial complimentary or free block of time for the client to get to know them and understand the value of the services we provide. And unless you got into this business as a ministry, you probably want to convert that initial conversation into a payin...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) You may have heard that DCA is going global. And today we're honored to introduce you to Anne-Marie Cade - the DCA™ Director of Learning and Development for Australia.  She is an award-winning lawyer and mediator, a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Certified Divorce Coach and Parenting Coordinator as well as a speaker, trai...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Many of us (including our clients) have learned all the wrong things about negotiation. We think of haggling over the price of a car where each person gives up a little of their position until an agreement is reached. Essentially we’ve been taught incorrectly that the loudest and most assertive voice wins in any negotiation, or th...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Today we're talking conflict styles and how helping a client gain insight into their own as well as their partner’s dominant or historical conflict style can be a game changer in divorce. Most couples have repetitive, unhealthy conflict patterns that have been established throughout their marriage. And those dysfunctional patterns...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Today, we thought it might be fun, interesting, and helpful to demonstrate what it sounds like when a coaching session goes wrong. We were looking back on some of our most popular podcast episodes and we noticed that many of the most downloaded topics were related to effective coaching skills. A few of the super popular ones inclu...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Most bottom lines are generated out of fear and uncertainty.  Clients feel that their well being, identity, status, financial security and more are being threatened in divorce. Today we're talking about helping our clients explore options that meet their core interests while still allowing for flexibility and collaboration - and t...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) When clients act out of fear, anger, powerlessness, overwhelm, or other emotions, they aren’t making the best decisions for themselves. This week, we’re talking all about triggers - why they happen and what you, as a coach, can do to support your clients in managing those emotional responses. How many times have you heard a client...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) We’ve said it before and we’ll keep saying it … if you want to get clients, grassroots marketing is the least expensive and most effective way to go. Today we want to talk about the mistakes we see new coaches make and what you can do to work your two most important referral pipelines - current clients and professional contacts. T...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Why would someone with decades of experience as a family law attorney and family court judge choose to pursue training as a divorce coach? We invited Chandlee Kuhn, a student in our current cohort, to share her perspective and give you some insights. Chandlee J. Kuhn is the retired Chief Judge of the Family Court for the State of...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Well, we couldn't be more excited to have THE Susan Guthrie joining us on the podcast this week. TBH we were fangirling a little bit, but we had the most incredible conversation about how she transitioned from litigation to ADR and why Susan believes a divorce coach should be everyone's first call. Susan is a nationally recognized...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Have you ever had a client who is timid about going into mediation because they believe their spouse or co-parent will over-power or try to dominate them? Perhaps they don’t feel like they have the confidence to advocate for themselves? Today we're talking about the concept of psychological power and that’s where we can look to Sa...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) The quickest route to jeopardizing your business is crossing the line and giving clients legal advice. Yes, as divorce coaches, we do support clients through the legal process and we do provide general divorce education, but we need to be very cautious to avoid acting as a legal advocate. In this week's episode, we review the conc...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Clients don’t always serve up their fears, goals, biases, needs, expectations, assumptions and thinking problems on a silver platter. Often they’re embedded deep inside their stories.  One of the most critical skills we develop as coaches is to hear what isn’t being said.  In today’s episode we dive into how excellent coaches trai...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) These days everyone is talking about high conflict divorce, but is it always the other party? Today we thought we’d talk about those times when your client is contributing to the conflict and discuss some strategies for helping them identify when they’re getting in their own way. Have you heard the saying “it takes two to tango”? ...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) We talked earlier this year about why we hate toxic positivity and it obviously hit a nerve. It’s one of our most downloaded episodes, so we thought we’d unpack that a little more and spend some time chatting about why we want professional divorce coaches to stop referring to themselves as cheerleaders. Cheerleader: be an enthusia...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) There’s a lot of confusion out there about what being a certified divorce coach means and why it matters. Advocating for the profession of divorce coaching is part of our mission here at DCA™ and today we’re talking about how important it is that anyone calling themselves a divorce coach have the proper training and credentials. I...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Mediation is becoming more and more popular as a means for couples to negotiate their divorce and co-parenting agreements. And many courts are now requiring mediation before hearing or trial dates can be set. But clients who aren’t properly prepared for mediation often make common mistakes that are obstacles to successful negotiat...

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) We talked last week about what can happen when new coaches get distracted by the latest market trends and shiny objects.  This week, we want to continue the conversation and chat about the importance of ongoing professional development. Because growing a divorce coaching practice isn't easy and it's certainly not a one-time event....

Send Us a Message (include your contact info if you'd like a reply) Trying to decide where to start or what to do next when it comes to your business can feel overwhelming at times. It's easy to see the latest shiny trend and lose focus.  Debra and Tracy discuss how to navigate this difficult process, how to simplify your approach, and how to know what's working in today's episode. When it comes t...